Africa’ s only monthly publication serving the HEVAC & R sectors

ISSN 1812-772X

ISSN 1812-772X

March 2026 I Vol 42 No 01

PUBLISHER DETAILS

PUBLISHED BY INTERACT MEDIA DEFINED( PTY) LTD 13A Riley Road, Bedfordview, 2007, South Africa PO Box 695, Edenvale, 1610 Tel: + 27( 0) 11 579 4940 | Web: www. interactmedia. co. za

PUBLISHING UNIT LEAD: Dale Macnamara | dale @ interactmedia. co. za EDITOR: Eamonn Ryan | eamonn @ interactmedia. co. za

ADVERTISING EXTERNAL SALES Dale Macnamara | sales @ interactmedia. co. za Chandre van Aswegen | chandre @ interactmedia. co. za

SUBSCRIPTIONS: Ralph Shongwe | ralph @ interactmedia. co. za

SUB-EDITOR: Megan O ' Connor | megan @ interactmedia. co. za

DESIGN AND LAYOUT: Ruan Coetzee | ruan @ interactmedia. co. za PROCESS CO-ORDINATOR: Royce Headger | royce @ interactmedia. co. za

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS Grant Laidlaw, Michael Young, Eugene le Roux and Rob Burger

ADVISORY COMMITTEE Grant Laidlaw, John Ackermann, Pat Burke and Graeme Page

MANAGEMENT Operations / Finance: Sean Macnamara | sean @ interactmedia. co. za Finance: Laetitia Arnott | laetitia @ interactmedia. co. za

PRINTER: Typo Colour Printing Specialists

DISTRIBUTION / MAILING: distribution @ interactmedia. co. za

ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY PRINTING: All paper is sourced from the Forest Stewardship Council and Chain of Custody-certified suppliers. All wastepaper from the plant is recycled. All used plates are recycled. All new printing equipment is purchased for low energy-consumption levels and low volatile organic-compound emissions.

DISCLAIMER: While every reasonable precaution has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the advice and information given, neither the editor, publisher, proprietor, staff, nor any official body represented or published in this issue, will accept responsibility for any damages, loss, injuries, or false claims that may arise or be made in the content. Including but not limited to any references to gender, religion, politics, ethnicity, or personal preferences of any editorial contribution whether an industry expert, advertiser through sponsored or paid content or contract writer. We subscribe to the Code of Conduct of the Advertising Regulatory Board( info @ arb. co. za) and the Press Ombudsman( see below). Disclaimers by individual companies are hereby overridden by this disclaimer.

COPYRIGHT: Reproduction of any of the content and photographs is expressly forbidden in terms of the Copyright Act of 1987 with all amendments. All requests to reproduce must be made in writing to the publisher and such confirmation must be given in writing before proceeding. A copy of where the reproduction was published must be supplied to the publisher at the above address. All publication and exhibition titles are registered as trademarks in terms of the Trademarks Act of 1993 and are held by Interact Media Defined( Pty) Ltd, Reg No 2014 / 092774 / 07.

REGULARS 1 Editor’ s Note 44 Brand listings

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 3 Singapore’ s largest industrial district cooling system now operational

BUSINESS 5 HVAC & R qualifications enter new era as QCTO trade test pilot reaches final validation stage 8 Prospero Muheki: lighting the way for Africa’ s engineers 9 How SA’ s commercial property revival is revving up HVAC demand 11 BSIMAC: SA-built HVAC design and energy simulation platform with global potential

NETWORKING 13 Sharpening focus on training: learning while earning

EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS 14 Mastering evaporator selection

PROJECT 27 Revitalising a Durban landmark

TECHNICAL 43 The advantages of cooling tower retrofits using EC fan arrays www. refrigerationandaircon. co. za

Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Africa

BUSINESS

HVAC & R qualifications enter new era as QCTO trade test pilot reaches final validation stage

ASSOCIATIONS

Sharpening focus on training: learning while earning

FEATURE

Efficiency before renewables

March 2026 | Vol 42 No. 01 ISSN1812-772X | R92.00